Champions league preview: Mighty Juventus vs tricky Sevilla

Italian giants Juventus play host to Spanish side Sevilla in the standout fixture on Wednesday night in the Champions League in what promises to be a pulsating encounter.

Both teams had a strange summer, letting go of some of their finest players, but have made some solid acquisitions subsequently.

And while Juve are favourites for this tie, their opponents are renown for toppling fancied teams in European competitions.

Juventus

Winning a domestic league is no easy task, but five on the trot is truly an otherworldly one! Juventus have done that and more, winning the Coppa Italia twice and were runners up in the Champions League in 2015.

Manager Massimiliano Allegri has proved himself a shrewd tactician, bolstering his side&’s ranks year after year whenever a big-name has departed for greener pastures.

His 3-5-2 formation is the perfect mix of style and substance, with old-dogs Gianluigi Buffon, Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci mixing it up well with new-singing Mehdi Benatia.

In midfield, Sami Khedira and Mirajlem Pjanic have been quite impressive, but it is the front duo of Paulo Dybala and Gonzalo Higuain who have been absolutely electric.

While the mammoth transfer fee of Higuain is unjustifiable, the 29-year-old is banging in the goals for fun, and his compatriot is revelling in a slightly deeper role. Dybala drops off Higuain and drags defenders out of position with his sizzling pace and then releases Higuain who is generally unmarked.

This seemingly simple, but difficult to pull off tactic has proven the bane of teams in the Serie A, and Sevilla will have a fight on their hands if they are to keep the Argentine duo quiet.

Juve have a couple of injury concerns, with Claudio Marchisio and Stefano Sturaro confirmed to miss out.

Sevilla

Sevilla competed a commendable steak of their own in 2016, winning the Europa League for the third time in a row.

The Champions League is one step higher than the Europa League however, and Sevilla may find out the hard way against the Italian Champions.

The mastermind of their Europa League triumphs, Unai Emery has left for PSG and while Jorge Sampaoli is a respected manager, Sevilla are his first European club.

Results in the La Liga have been encouraging as they are currently placed second in the standings after two wins and a draw after the first three games.

Sampaoli has alternated with a 3-5-2 and 4-1-4-1 formation since the start of the season, as he still looks uncertain as to which better suits his team.

Franco Vazquez, Pablo Sarabia and Luciano Vietto have been impressive in the attacking department, while Adil Rami and Sergio Escudero are the pick of the defence.

Samir Nasri, on loan from Manchester City, will be out to prove he can still play at the highest level and is an unpredictable attacking outlet Juve should be wary of.

Los Rojiblancos are without the services of the suspended Thimothee Kolodzieczak and the injured trio of Michael Krohn Delhi, Benoit Tremoulinas and David Soria.

Super Stat: The two sides have been drawn in the Champions League groups stages for the second time in a row, with Juventus winning the first game 2-0 and Sevilla winning the return fixture 1-0 last season.